Who are you and what did you do with Yasiel Puig?

Over the last week, the Dodgers‘ problem child made it a point to speak with Albert Pujols of the Angels during the Freeway Series. He also solicited advice from Robinson Cano, who was with the Seattle Mariners in Anaheim.

Puig talked to them about his difficulties at the plate in spring training. What they told him was similar to what he was told by Dodgers coaches Mark McGwire and Manny Mota when he batted .122 in the Cactus League.

“They said if I keep working hard, I’ll see the results on the field,” Puig said in Spanish.

He’s now starting to see them.

Puig was two for 10 with a home run in the Dodgers’ three games at Petco Park against the San Diego Padres. He was 0 for 3 in the series finale Wednesday, scoring from first base on a first-inning double by Hanley Ramirez.

Puig isn’t ready to declare his slump over, but he’s close.

“Little by little,” Puig said, “I’m getting out of it.”

The expectation around baseball is that Puig will regress from his rookie season last year, when he batted .319 with 19 home runs and 42 runs batted in in 104 games. The widely held belief is that pitchers have adjusted to Puig. But Puig is doing what he can to counter back.

“I’m preparing very well in practice, in batting practice, everything I’m doing with the coaches,” he said. “I’m learning more about the pitchers, the pitches they throw, how to not let them beat me with pitches out of the zone, wait for the pitches I can hit and to trust my hands.”

The pitch Puig hit for a home run Tuesday was a fastball up and in from Ian Kennedy, the very kind of pitch that was said to trouble him.

“It was all the result of the work we’ve been doing,” Puig said.

Puig said he is listening more closely to the team’s trainers on how to treat minor aches and pains.

Last week, in the wake of public criticism he received from Manager Don Mattingly, Puig said he asked a clubhouse full of teammates how he could better himself, both as a player and person.

“They shared some of the experiences they had when they were my age,” Puig said. “That’s helped me a lot.”

I can only conclude that Yasiel has been abducted by aliens who are inhabiting his body… or could it be he is getting smart? Yikes! It looks that way. Actually, that bodes very well for the Dodgers and those that said there weren’t Dodger players who were upset with Puig… well if you gave them an enema, you could bury them in a shoebox!

This story could have had a bad ending, but it now looks to be a new beginning for Yas and the Dodgers.

So, Matt Kemp (a) will be back tonight; or (b) will not be back tonight. Either way, it will be soon and I look for Donnie to move Dee Gordon to leadoff at the same time. How about this tonight:

Gordon 2B

Crawford LF

Ramirez SS

Gonzalez 1B

Kemp CF

Puig RF

Uribe 3B

Ellis C

Bob Engle picked Carlos Triunfel when he was with the M’s and now he takes him for the Dodgers. He must see something, but is it something that is really there? He’s on the 40-man so he’s likely to see time in LA this year.

Watch Darnell Sweeney – he’s a leadoff candidate.

Alexander Guerrero – still rehabbing. I detect a trend. Also, a number of MLB scouts are adamant that he’s not a MLB 2B! I remain unconvinced either way… SHOW ME!

You know, we can talk about our lineups and who we think should bat where, and some might think Dee should bat leadoff while other say he should bat 9th and that’s all cool, but I was looking at some other sites minor league lineup projections and then looking at the real box scores – it truly was fantasy baseball. Talk about a WAG! What a waste of time! That’s all I’ll say (eyes rolling)…

Artieboysays:

Badgersays:

It appears that a young man maturing comes as a surprise to you. Puig is from a smart, responsible family. He has enormous talent. The idea that it might take more than an hour and half for him to grow into a mature Major League baseball player is no surprise to me.

And the assertion that a Cuban All Star shortstop cannot learn the second base position sounds very short sighted to me. Give the man some time before you count him out.

Gordon is getting close to being a lead off hitter. .333 OBP is all I ask. If he gets there, that is a championship lineup. That is IF Clayton Kershaw is 100%.

Anonymoussays:

If Kemp comes back for the opener, Crawford or Either will have to sit. I just believe that Either will be traded sometime this year. In fact, I could see both traded (or given away). Bring up Pederson and move Kemp to left field. Why has Mattingly not used SVS as a pinch hitter? My only thinking on this is that mattingly wanted to give Baxter as many at bats as possible to see if he could be a good pinch hitter, before he was cut from the team. He will be cut soon.

Badgersays:

Trades will happen. Or maybe just releases. Most teams have settled in.

I keep going over this and unless Gordon plays so well Donnie can’t sit him, I still see Crawford leading off (only because he is our best option) and Guerrero at second base hitting behind Uribe in front of Ellis. I don’t agree with the unnamed sources that say Guerrero can’t play. Our sources say he can and that is why we outbid everybody to get him. The doubters are those who lost the bid.

All outfielders will get their at bats. As will SVS and Turner. You know how Donnie likes to rotate his players and his lineup.

Will Matt play today? I’ve had my doubts. The other outfielders deserve to start in the home opener. Just my opinion.

Mark_Timmonssays:

I am not giving up on Guerrero. I am neither high on him, nor against him. I just have to see it and we have not seen anything yet. We have seen him injured twice. He doesn’t have a great arm, so he’s not going to 3B or SS. He does have power, but will he hit enough? That’s what I have to see. Our guys have been right… and wrong too. They are fallible and if they bat 60% on players they would be in the top 2%! So he just has to show me.

If I were a betting man RIGHT NOW, I would bet that Opening Day 2016 Darnell Sweeney would be our 2B!

Badgersays:

Badgersays:

Guerrero is 27 with success in a high profile league. Sweeney is a 13th round pick from a year and a half ago. I hope you are right about him but he hasn’t come close to accomplishing what Gordon did and we know that story.

I can’t wait to see Alex at AAA. The ball flies a long way in that league.

Jaesays:

I watched Sweeney a lot this Spring and he is an intriguing prospect. Not a lot of fanfare – just a guy who plays and plays very well. He was a SS but moved to 2B as he probably isn’t really an elite SS. I like him a lot.

Mark_Timmonssays:

Mikesays:

It looks like Puig is taking two steps forward, one back. He is still very young with a lot of money and temptation. But I feel like others that his upbringing by educated parents and the life he lived in Cuba will get him past these temptations. Let’s hope he doesn’t try to do too much, and let the game come to him. I’m with you Mark on Guerrero once he settles down, gets over his injury we can see if he’s the real deal or not.

Brooklyn Dodgersays:

I’m really tired of hearing about Gordon’s defense. Gordon never had a problem fielding the ball at short. His only problem was with making the throws. If he succeeds at 2B, he won’t be the first former shortstop to make a successful transition to the opposite side the diamond.

Darnell Sweeney? A prospect yes. But I’m not going to get excited about a 23 year old second baseman who hit .275 at class-A Rancho last year with 151 strikeouts.

Guerrero? Has definite upside, but he still has to show me. I’m not convinced either way.

B17, like all games this one is important, but I think you go overboard everytime you declare a game to be critical. Reminder. It’s a long season.

Like I’ve said before, don’t be surprised if we get some regression with Puig on occasion. In the long run I think he’s going to be a huge asset to this team. I’m willing to put up with the growing pains.

Roger Dodgersays:

Attention NED. The Dodgers need three catchers. Two real catchers and another player who can catch.

Now this is the new plan. In a game where A.J. Ellis is starting, if he comes up with 2 or 3 runners on base in a tight game — Donnie needs to send in a pinch-hitter for Ellis. Then, the 2nd catcher takes over behind the plate. If there is an injury of that catcher — the extra catcher can finish up the game.

Ellis just cannot cut it most of the season in those key situations. Oh, he will win a game or two out of the 162 game season. But like today, looking at strike 3 with two on . . . we need something better, or, at least this plan above.

Heck, I would rather have Nick Punto up there in those situation than Ellis.

Brooklyn Dodgersays:

Wasn’t that horrible a start by Ryu. To paraphrase Badger, he was doinked to death. Eliminate the doinks and he might have gotten out of first inning with no runs scored. Remember, this is the game without a clock. Eliminate the doinks (and that popup that Gordon and Agon lost) and the third out is recorded before a run crosses the plate. Didn’t the Giants score all or most of their runs with two outs? With a little luck, Ryu might have settled down and pitched a shut-out. Remember, he has a history of getting stronger once he gets past the first inning.

Badgersays:

I’m afraid we’re stuck with Ellis. Our catchers are all bottom of the order guys. I see about 500 outs from that position. Ellis’ only hope are walks and an occasional clutch hit. Our offense comes from the middle of our order or it doesn’t come at all. Fact is, on Opening Day of what is supposed to be the most promising year in over two decades the team coughed up an ugly hairball. Put it in the rear view mirror and move on.

Roger Dodgersays:

In the past, Vin seems to like to brag on Ellis and the number of pitches he sees per at bat. Like he about leads the league.

Big deal. Jerry, I agree, he is really looking for a walk.

I am reading a biography right now on Roberto Clemente — and he used to say, swing. If you have 4 ABs in a game, at least swing 12 times — you have a better chance to get a hit or more in a game if you swing. Taking pitches that are strikes reduce your chance of getting a hit.

Robsays:

I would go right hand heavy against madbum. Give Crawford and Andre a day to rest and bat Puig lead off with kemp behind him. SVS in left and turner at 2nd. I am kinda worried about tomorrow because the midgets hit that slow stuff pretty good and if Malholm keeps the ball up I can see a bunch of HR.

Pete M.says:

Puig, Puig, Puig… There had to be a dozen or more kids in my section wearing 66 in one fashion or another…Here you got someone paying high $$$ to take them to the game and this buffn pulls his crapola again… What do they tell them???

Badgersays:

I first read that Puig missed batting practice. Then I read that Puig was allegedly told he wasn’t playing as he left the field following batting practice. So he didn’t miss any work, he was late for work. I wonder how late?

Pete raises an excellent point. 55,000 people showed up and I’m betting not one of them showed up to see Mattingly manage. You want to use a few minutes tardy as an excuse to start Kemo, fine. Lame, but, ok, it’s your team. But Puig is a major draw. If you want those people to maintain interest and keep coming, Puig gotta play.

For so many reasons that opener stunk the joint up. There are approximately 13 at bats for 3 outfielders per game. Somehow they have to be divided up. And arguably your most popular player, who happens to also be the most entertaining player, must play.

Badgersays:

Just read in the Times that service at the Ravine was predicated on cost of ticket. Figures. 45 minute wait for nachos and a full inning missed to take a piss. Add the upset tv audience and the multi billion dollar Dodgers aren’t exactly a first class organization. Yet.

Roger Dodgersays:

Kemps bobble of the ball in the outfield yesterday — then, it looks to me like he made a wide (bad) throw to 2nd base and with a good throw might have gotten the runner sliding into 2nd. And he was not that far away in making the throw.

If Crawford comes out for a game here or there — does Ethier go to left field? He has not been there in awhile.

Giants in 1st place.

We are only a week into the season, but the Dodgers are not in sinc. The starting pitching is up for grabs. The fielding had hurt. This is not like some Dodger fans have planned in over the past winter. Hope they straighten it out soon.

Michaelsays:

I hope the kids that showed up to see Puig learned a good lesson that if you don’t show up on time there is a price to pay. I would say that being punctual in ones life is a trait that will serve them well. There is no gray area here, either you’re on time or you’re late, if it’s 5 minutes you are Late.
I’m also positive that more fans showed up anticipating Matts season debut than what will the Yas do today, so it all worked out very well.

Watford Dodgersays:

Watched most of the game last night and a couple of observations having read the moments in here. Firstly Ryu is a fine pitcher but very vulnerable early. It happened time after time last season – always struging or giving up a couple of early runs and then settling down to pitch well.
Roger and Jerry are right about AJ – always looking for a walk. Mcann was available.
The Puig show is getting boring.

Brooklyn Dodgersays:

I didn’t see the news about Ryu being tired. But he’s definitely not being overworked. He pitched in Australia on March 23 (March 22 our time), and then didn’t pitch for another week on March 30, and finally pitched yesterday on April 4 on his normal rest between starts. He’s only had three starts because of the way the schedule has worked out, including the early start in Australia. And while he’s the only pitcher with 3 starts this season, keep in mind that during that week that Ryu didn’t pitch after Australia, other big league pitchers were pitching in spring training games.

There is no way the Dodgers would have paid McCann what he’s getting from the Yankees, nor would they have given him the years. The Yankees could do it because they have the option of using McCann at DH to get him some occasional rest, and because DH is an option as he gets further along in his contract. Besides, I’m not ready to dismiss Ellis as easily as some of you. I still think he provides a decent bat at the bottom of the order in the long run. And yes, the punch in our lineup is dependent on most of the rest of the lineup. If an upgrade at catcher becomes available, I’m all for it. But for now I want to see consistent offense from Hanley, Agon, Kemp, etc. Say anything you want about Ellis, the fact is, if the middle of our lineup was hitting, the Dodgers could easily be undefeated.

Badgersays:

Donnie trusts his stat book W. Crawford, Gordon and Ethier don’t hit LH pitching. Hopefully the second string team can. Gonzalez worked very hard at hitting LH pitching and it has paid off for him. Those other guys? Not so much. All RH hitters learn early how to hit RH pitching. They have to. LH hitters have a distinct advantage in this game. I took advantage of that when I got to college by becoming a switch hitter. It works.

Badgersays:

Kersh would be helpful. I will also feel better when Kemp is back. By May he should have his stroke down. He didn’t even bother with a rehab assignment and he wasn’t hitting the minor leaguers he went up against in camp. I’m hoping we can just mark time (.500) until we are hitting on all cylinders.

Brooklyn Dodgersays:

Roger, I know that I previously said it was Roger just being Roger, but really, aren’t you being overly pessimistic given that this is only the 7th game of the season, when you say, “This just might be a long season. Longer than we realized back in, say, January. As said by others here — the Giants will play tough all season. Yesterday and today are examples.”

Actually, I’m not all that impressed by the midgets, and continue to believe that they will be left in the dust if the Dodgers are healthy, and all the pieces get in place.

Even if he was safe, sending Ellis was stupid given the score, and that Hanley was waiting on deck, one swing away from making it 7-6.

Maybe Gordon’s hit against Bumgarner will make Mattingly think about ending the platoon, and start Gordon against all pitching. I think it’s definitely worth a look.

And although pointing out a Vin Scully error might be considered heresy, I’ll take the chance to point out that he was incorrect earlier in the broadcast when he said the speed of sound was faster than the speed of light. Sorry Vin, but it’s not even close. Speed of light is about 760 mph (actual speed depends on varying factors), and the speed of light is about 186,000 miles per second.

Robsays:

Michaelsays:

Donnie never learns. Brings in his closer in a non save situation to burn him up so Jansen will be unavailable tomorrow when we might need him. Must of took Joe Torres course on how to mismanage the bullpen.

Robsays:

Brooklyn Dodgersays:

Oops!!!!! That’s what happens when you criticize God (Vin). I meant the speed of sound is about 760 mph, NOT the speed of light. And maybe Vin really meant to say that the speed of light was faster than the speed of sound, and it just came out wrong. I can relate to that.

OK, now the Dodgers are 4-3. If memory serves, the NY Mets got off to a 4-3 start in 1986, and ended up winning 108 and the World Championship. I’ll take that.

Brooklyn Dodgersays:

When did Jansen last pitch. Too many days off isn’t good either. And Donnie did have the sense to pull him when his pitch count went up. And even though Jansen might be used tomorrow, Monday is a day off. Also, I doubt is Mattingly makes these decisions in a vacuum. I have to believe that Honeycutt was in agreement.

Badgersays:

The gnats are playing Bochy ball. They are disciplined. They make few mistakes and their pitching is good. They are a very good, well coached team. But the Dodgers have more talent. It’s a long season. Starts don’t mean much. Finishes do. I just hope our guys play to their ability. They do and we will be fine. They don’t and I will be calling for Donnie’s head.

Robsays:

I agree badger, every bochy player know their role on the team. Their team has a long chemistry which shows on and off the field. It’s like déjàvu from last year, we lost greinke at the beginning of the season and it took a while to put the wheels back on. With this short spring it might take a few weeks to get the studs to start hitting and get our pitchers back. Bills and Kersh should both be back by may so that will equalize our rotation. NO NEED TO PANIC.

Brooklyn Dodgersays:

Tell me Roger, if a team is playing great going into July and hits a 4-3 stretch, do we say they’re terrible, or that it’s just the inevitable bad stretch? Or let’s take the opposite situation. A team is playing terrible going into July and suddenly wins 5 of 6. Do we say they’re great, or do we way that they’re just having a momentary good stretch?

That is exactly why small samples are not good barometers on which to base judgments. A great start can make a mediocre team look great, and a poor start can make a great team look mediocre. If the same things happen in the midst of a long season which has already played out over several months, the same stretch of games does a lot less to shape your opinion of the team.

For those reasons I don’t expect Gordon to hit .421, Van Slyke .429, and Uribe .345. But I also don’t expect Agon to hit .167, Kemp .125, and Hanley .192.

And while I don’t expect this season to play out like last year, I will point out that early on last year the Giants looked great and the Dodgers looked dead.

Brooklyn Dodgersays:

Grumpy, you wrote exactly what I was about to write. Except I might make that 93 wins, since a 4-3 record works out proportionally to about 92.57 wins, which when rounded to its nearest whole number is 93.

And I’ll take it a step further. If the Dodgers win today, they’ll be 5-3, which works out to .625, which projects to just over 101 victories. Of course, if they lose, they’re just .500, and project to 81 wins. Point is, is today’s game going to decide if the Dodgers win 101 or 81, or can we just say that a very small sample size is unreliable, and just let the season play out?

Pete M.says:

Puig pondering…
“My cousin will drive me wherever I need to go” and “I understand the painful possibilities of sliding head first”…
Lip service I ask??? He drove to the stadium crazily (in his words) to end up being late for opening day and yesterday’s Alphonse & Gaston move at 1st.
Who’s B.S.’G who???

Badgersays:

Puig’s not the only Major League player that’s still dives into first base. Everybody knows it doesn’t get you there faster and everybody knows you could jam a thumb going it but some do it anyway. Baseball players are not exactly known for doing the smart thing. I am going to choose to appreciate what Puig can do that will help the team and trust he will grow up eventually. He is a 30-30 guy when he figures it out.

The Dodgers have a lot of work to do. Projecting a record based on 7 games seems silly to me, but by all means proceed. I still have the under on 96 wins and believe the division will be competitive. I don’t have a clue if Bills, Kershaw, or Beckett will be effective this year. I trust Kemp will be back but as good as his MVP year? Not likely. I think this team can be very good. But things have to come together. For the midgets, they are already together but have to stay that way. The rest of the division are no better than .500 teams in my estimation.

Badgersays:

Bobbie17says:

I agree with the mathematicians out there that this is a small sample. But, come on! The Dodgers stunk in spring training, and they stink now. These 2 games were not even close. If this team needs to score 4 runs a game to win, say goodbye to .500. The Giants are the competition and the gold standard in the west until someone else in the division wins the last game of the season. To be beat up at home on opening day and the next by your biggest foe is inexcusable. The team, once again, does not seem ready to play. We all better hope for another 42-8 run.

Glass Is Half Fullsays:

My son went to the Quake game today to watch Bills rehab stint..He said he came out after 1.1 innings and was shaking his arm as he left..He said his last 2 pitches looked “funny”…Hopefully it was a pitch count thing and not a set back…